Golden North Salmon Derby

All species of salmon, except pink and chum, will be accepted. All fish must be uncleaned, presented in the round. Derby participants are encouraged to return pink and chum salmon unharmed to the water unless they are retained for personal consumption.
• Click here for guidelines on how to handle your fish
• Click here for a salmon species identity chart

All Salmon accepted for scholarship prizes become property of the Territorial Sportsmen, Inc. A contestant must show his or her validated Derby ticket when presenting fish for weighing. ALL FISH MUST BE PRESENTED UNCLEANED IN THE ROUND! Fish to be weighed should be turned in as soon as possible, as significant weight loss begins as soon as the fish leaves the water. All fish, including scholarship fish, should be iced as soon as possible. Dark fish will not be accepted and the decision of a Derby official is final. Fish may be opened and checked in the presence of Derby officials.

Fish quality. Salmon that show evidence of contamination, sun burn, bruising and/or flesh deterioration will not be accepted. Dark fish will not be accepted and the decision of a Derby official is final. Help us maintain fish quality. Fish must be uncleaned in the round.

Derby entry fee and tickets. Contestants 13 years and older must purchase a $40 entry ticket. Contestants 12 years and younger must purchase a $10 entry ticket. These tickets are good for all days of the Derby. No refund of entry fees will be made. Contestants must validate their tickets on the first day of their fishing and may stay out on the Derby grounds all three days. You need to validate your ticket only once.

Derby officials. Derby officials are at the boat docks and harbors. Contestants must take their fish to these officials for checking and weighing to become eligible to enter the competition for one of the top 50 prizes.

Eligibility. Any person who has a validated Derby entry ticket is eligible to fish in the Derby. Children 15 years and younger must be accompanied by an adult of at least 18 years of age.

Entrants may not fish with non-entrants. Non-entrants, regardless of age, may not fish in the same boat as entrants but may go along for the enjoyment of the outing.

Entrant must be the angler. The person turning in a fish for a prize, must be the same person who actually caught that fish, or they will be disqualified. Also, in the case of a protest, the angler may be requested to take a polygraph test.

Boat fishing only. Derby participation is restricted to fishing from vessels. Fish taken by dock fishing or shore fishing will not be accepted. All fish must be delivered in the round, uncleaned, to an official weigh-in station by vessel only.

Turning is a fish at Official Weigh-in Station

Weighing fish. Only the following stations will have the weighing scales that must be used for official weighing of salmon.

• Amalga Harbor
• Auke Bay
• Douglas Harbor

Click here for official locations of Derby weigh-in stations

Validation of tickets. Nine validating stations will be open. NOT ALL VALIDATION STATIONS ARE WEIGH-IN STATIONS. Tickets can be validated by the following schedule:

Amalga Harbor	7:30am-7:00pm
Auke Bay	7:30am-7:00pm
Aurora Basin*	7:30am-8:30am
Douglas Boat Harbor	7:30am-7:00pm
Fisherman's Bend	7:30am-8:30am
Harris Harbor*	7:30am-8:30am
North Douglas Boat Ramp*	7:30am-8:30am
Tee Harbor*	7:30am-1:30pm
*Friday and Saturday only

Once a contestant has validated, the contestant may not take a boat out of the Derby area limits. The contestant may return the boat to harbor or take a boat from the water to trailer home. The contestant may return a boat to harbor even if the contestant has a weigh-in fish but does not return to the harbor during official weigh-in hours.

Firearms. Use of firearms from any boat will disqualify all contestants on that boat from the Derby.

Signal bomb. A closing signal will be sounded near the three shore based official weigh-in stations(Douglas Harbor, Amalga Harbor, Auke Bay Harbor) at 6:00pm on Sunday by which time all boats wishing to enter fish at the weigh-in floats for one of the top 50 prizes must be inside the finish line.

Boats, speed, and limits. Every vessel propelled by machinery, regardless of horsepower, must have its name or number clearly displayed. Speed of all vessels during the Derby, while within the reduced speed areas (see map) is limited to five miles per hour or less to avoid large wakes. Markers to indicate the reduced speed zones near the three shore based weigh-in stations have been placed at reasonable distances from the Derby official's station.

Derby area limits. Updated 2007
Waters open to Derby Participants are described as follows:

Waters closed to Derby fishing also include the five miles per hour zone near the Derby officials stations (see area limits map).

Any boat and all contestants thereon found in violation of speeding, boating outside the Derby area, or in any way posing a hazard to other contestants, shall be disqualified from the Derby.

Prize policy and taxes. The Territorial Sportsmen, Inc. is not responsible for any prize donated by merchants who do not give as pledged. The values shown on the prize list are set by the donors. The Territorial Sportsmen, Inc. will not be responsible if any prizes prove to be less valuable than shown in the donor's estimate. Taxes on all prizes are the responsibility of the individual winner. In accordance with IRS rules, winners of prizes valued at $600 or more must provide their taxpayer identification number at Awards Night. Failure to do so will result in withholding the prize.

Protests. Protests of any nature must be made in person at the Official's floats. Then the contestant must present his or her case personally to the Board of the Territorial Sportsmen, Inc. at their Derby certification meeting at noon on Tuesday following the Derby.

Certification. The certification meeting will be held at noon on the Tuesday following the Derby. Decisions of the Board are final.

Special note. Derby participants must comply with Alaska Department of Fish & Game sport fishing regulations. Contestants cited for violating these regulations while in the Derby will be disqualified.